Fussell suggests that the American and British public and politicians entered the war with the conception that it would somehow be easily won without great cost. By the end of the war this misconception had been proved wrong. Fussell uses the phrase "From Light to Heavy Duty" to describe the process. What are some of the events described in the book that led Americans and British to conclude that the war might not be so easy after all?

Fussell maintains that war is full of military blunders that often cause great loss of life. What mishaps does the text present in support of this thesis? Is it possible to interpret at least some of these events as something other than a blunder?

Much of the book discusses the literature before, during, and after the war, and Fussell argues that a society can be understood...